There were 6,538 new patents issued at the US Patent Office for the week of May 4, 2021, not counting the Design and Reissue patents. There were 3,225 patents issued to inventors in the United States broken out by state in the following:
Below is the breakdown for the top countries assignee new patents issued:
The table below are some of the top Assignees of the week.
The top ten longest time to patent grant for the week. Ciambella Ltd. comes in number one with 4,984 days from filing to issuance. The patent is titled “System, method and graphical user interface for workflow generation, deployment and/or execution”.
The top ten shortest time to patent grant for the week was between 88 and 112 days. Well done to the teams!
Another solid week for blockchain patents granted with 18 new grants.
11 new Electric Vehicle patents were issued this week with Hyundai again being the winner with three new issuances this week.
Patents have been front and center this week with the ongoing discussion of COVID19 IP/Patents. The United States backs waiving patent protections in order to speed up vaccine manufacturing. Has anyone actually looked at the covid vaccine related patents and applications or if they were filed/granted at a local level in Brazil, India, and South Africa? I would bet no. My friends at iam-media have done a fantastic job covering the factual realities of the debate:
https://www.iam-media.com/coronavirus/world-ip-day-covid-patents
“They have no control over patents outside of their own territories.”
“Any country can override a patent within its territory at any time.”
“Covid-related vaccines have no patent protection in the vast majority of low- and medium-income countries.”
Moderna already committed to not litigate their patents while the pandemic in a statement issued on October 8, 2020. They also released a list of covid vaccine related patents.
US 10,703,789 - Modified polynucleotides for the production of secreted proteins
US 10,702,600 - Betacoronavirus mRNA vaccine
US 10,577,403 - Modified polynucleotides for the production of secreted proteins
US 10,442,756 - Compounds and compositions for intracellular delivery of therapeutic agents
US 10,266,485 - Compounds and compositions for intracellular delivery of therapeutic agents
US 10,064,959 - Modified nucleosides, nucleotides, and nucleic acids, and uses thereof
US 9,868,692 - Compounds and compositions for intracellular delivery of therapeutic agents
Patent 10,933,127 - Betacoronavirus mRNA vaccine should be added to Moderna’s list.
I thought this tweet was the best analogy to the current situation.
After reading through some of the patents, it would be very difficult to recreate the vaccines without access to the Moderna team. There is little doubt trade secrets and know how is the main driver to building the vaccines. With an IP waiver how quickly could Brazil and India build a manufacturing facility, gain access to the needed raw materials, and build the vaccines? Likely years.
The answer seems quite simple: continue ramping up vaccine production in the United States current facilities and start exporting excess supply to countries in need. With roughly 55% of the US population receiving at least one dose and walk ups now available, everyone who wants a vaccine should have gotten one by June 30, 2021. Its time to export the American Dream and Innovation to build goodwill around the globe. We shouldn’t wait around forever for the 30% who are unlikely ever to get the covid vaccine to change their minds letting supply sit on shelves or go to waste when there is such demand overseas.
This will certainly create some backlash from the usual suspects, but at a cost of $15 to $35 a dose it makes a world of sense to go with this method even if the USA eats the entire cost. We spend so much money on lesser causes when you comb through the annual budget. $10-20B or so to vaccinate a large portion of the globe is a small number in the grand scheme of things.
In summary, patents are always an easy target by the less informed. Leadership should consider alternative solutions instead of stripping patent rights and discouraging/disincentivizing future research and investment.
As always thank you for reading and the support!